Washington, Pa – The Washington Wild Things, presented by Washington Federal Savings Bank, won a seesaw battle over the Chillicothe Paints by a score of 6-4 Friday at CONSOL Energy Park.

Mario Garza’s third home run of the year was the difference maker in the seventh inning as his two-run bomb gave the Wild Things the go-ahead runs for the win.

Wild Things reliever Ian Heisel (1-0) earned the win in his three innings of relief. Gus Hlebovy came into the game in the ninth to hold off the Paints for the save (3).

It was a battle between the starting righties early as Michael Hauff for Washington and Eric Teall for Chillicothe held both lineups scoreless through three innings.

The Wild Things eventually got to Teall, who had seven strikeouts in the first four innings, when Ben Ramsey hit a solo home run over the leftfield wall for the first run of the game.

In the next inning for the Wild Things, Kyle Padgett ledoff the frame with a triple and then scored on a sacrifice groundout by Eric Earnhart. Despite loading the bases with only one out, Washington stranded all three runners as Teall worked his way out of trouble, keeping it a 2-0 contest.

The Paints fought back to take a 4-2 lead in the sixth, however, scoring four runs off Hauff with the help of a three-run home run by Travis Storrer.

Washington found their rhythm at the dish in the seventh when Robbie Knapp, who leads the Wild Things in RBI with 14, roped a double down the leftfield line to plate Jarod Rine and Nathan Messner to knot the score at four.

Catcher Mario Garza then displayed his opposite field power in the inning on a two-run homer to left, putting Washington up 6-4 for the eventual win.

The Wild Things improve their record to 8-2 and will hit the road for a two-game stand against the Slippery Rock Sliders at Jack Critchfield Park starting Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard on WJPA 95.3 FM or online at www.msasportsnetwork.com.

-- Brian Dalek